Improvement in magazine fire-arms



2 Sheets--Sheet 1". G. D. LUCE. l

Magazine Fire-Arms.

X v l No. I136,660. I @gl Parentedmarcmhmm 516111125525: Y @ummm @its AM mami/mammie ca Mx(eqmels masses) G. D. LUCE.

Magazine` FireArms. 910.136,66@ .n PatentedMarch11,1873.

99" Q. www

2 Sheets--Sheet 2.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE D. LUCE, OF NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA.

IMPROVEMENT lN MAGAZINE FIRE-ARMS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 136,660, dated March 11, 1873.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE D. LUCE, of New Orleans, in the parish ot- Orleans and State of Louisiana, have invented a new and Improved Magazine-Gun; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawing forming a part of this specitication.

My invention relates to improvements in magazine tire-arms; and consists in the construction and arrangement of loading, tiring, and cartridge-ejecting mechanism, as hereinafter described and claimed.

Figure lis alongitudinal sectional elevation of my improved gun, showing the positions ot' the parts when the gun is loaded.4 Fig. 2 is a partial top View. Fig. 3 is a longitudinal sectional elevation of the barrel and frame, showing the positions of the parts just previous to the delivery of the cartridge (shown by broken lines) into the barrel. Fig. 4 is also a section on the linear oc, but the view is in the direction ofarrow b. Fig. 5, Sheet 2, is a side view of the gun with part broken away to show the operative mechanism'. Fig. 6 is a cross-section "on the line z z, showing the arrangement of the carrier and its movement. Figs. 7 and 8 are views of the sliding retractor and breechblock, respectively.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts.

A represents the hollow sheet-metal stock, constituting the magazine-chamber and containing a magazine of four tubes, B, arranged parallel with each other, connected together and mounted on a pivot, C, at each ond, so as to be turned to present the cartridges to the passage E, through the base-block F, for being delivered into the carrier G. The tubes ofthe magazine have acoiled spring, H, in the lower end for pushing the cartridges into carrier G. In this example the magazine is represented as being provided with a thumb-bit, l, at the lower end for turning it by hand, but I propose to use any other suitable contrivance therefor; for instance, a spring may be attached at the upper end so as to turn it automatically when let free, ora pawl or push-piece and ratchet or star-wheel may be used. J' is a receiver or frame inclosing the loading, firing, and cartridge-ejecting mechanism proper. The same is formed of a meta-l plate or continuation ot' the stock so bent or shaped as to be cylindrical in its upper and rear portion, the barrel K screwing into it, as shown, Fig. l, while its two sides or edges O are parallel below the barrel, Figs. l, 3. The left side is, however, bent outward to form a tube, N, Figs. 2, 4, and 6, through which the cartridge-shells are ejected. The guard-lever is pivoted to these plates O at U, and is connected at the end ot' its short arm with the retractor-slide P by a link, V, which has a slotted hole, W, for the pin, which connects it with the retractor, to allow the guardlever to move a certain distance before pushing the retractor forward. A stud-pin,.r, with a friction-roller on it is arranged on one side of the guard-lever S, to work under the hammer to throw it back, to be caught by the trigger Y, when the guard-lever is thrown forward for extracting the shell and introducing a new cartridge. The. said guard-lever also has another stud-pin, Z, for acting on the lever R to cause it to raise the breech-plate L, to open the breech for the discharge of the shell and the introduction of a new cartridge. The studpin is in the notch a of the lever R when Vthe gun is loaded, and said notch allows the lever and plate L to fall, but when the guardlever is pushed forward the pin is forced along the lever to the point hand raises the breech-plate L at the time it arrives at said point; but beyond this pointV the curve d of the lever R is such that the pin V"merely holds it and the breech-plate up in passing forward and back again.

In passing from said point b back into the notch ct again the pin forces the breech-plate to fall and close the barrel. The retractor has a notch, e, Figs. 3 and 8, in the upper hind corner, into which the flange of the cartridge falls before being pushed into the barrel, (as will be presently described,) in which it lies after being discharged, ready for being pushed back by the retractors into the hollow carrier G, when the guard-lever is pushed forward. The retractor also has a notch, f, at the lower rear corner, which, as soon as the shell has been .pushed Vback into the carrier G, engages the to oscillate on its front end, so that the further i movement of the guard-lever pulls the' rear end directly downward to swing the carrier down in front of the passage E, to, receive another cartridge, as shown in broken hnes, Fig. 6.

'ihe cartridge is forced in by the springof the magazine andforces the shell out through the dischargetube N, Figs. 2, 4, and 6, the

flange of the shell being at this time released, from the notch e of the retractors by the swinging out of said cartridge with the carrier as the latteris swung down in front of passage E.

ln order to prevent the cartridge from being forced through the carrier G by the magazine-spring at the time it is introduced, a little spring, m, Fig. 6, is attached to the carrier, with one end, n, projecting into it sufficiently to catch the llange of the cartridge when it comes in, and arrest it at the point where it is required to lie while being carried up to the barrel. This spring is pivoted to the side of the carrier in order to allow it to be swung backward a little by the flange of the cartridge-shell coming in contact with it when said shell is pushed back into the carrier by means of the retractor. Thus arranged and operated, it will not obstruct the ejection of the shell through the ltube N by the incoming cartridge. The elasticity of the device 'm u adapts it to press snugly against the shell of the cartridge to insure its proper hold on the side of the flange. The carrier G is provided with a flange, p, to rest in front of the passage E'and prevent the cartridges from coming out while said carrier swings up behind the barrel to present the cartridge.

1n this example said llange is represented attached to the spring m; but in practice it will, probably, be found better to attach it to the carrier.

lhe retractor has another notch, q, just in advance of the notch f, into which a little v stud, r, Fig. l, on the carrier comes, just before arriving at the end of 'its down movement, to holdthe retractor from going' forward until the carrier has swung upward again so far that the entrance ofthe cartridge in the barrel will be insured by the cartridge not being pulled forward till the aforesaid upward movement of the carrier. It is for this operation that the link V is provided with the slotted hole before referred to, whereby the guard-lever is allowed to move backward to some extent after the retractor has raised till the carrier has swung upward far enough for the flange of the cartridge to fall into the notch e, before said lever sets the retractor in motion.

Inorder to accommodate the movement of theI retractor, the carrier is necessarily provided with a wide slot on the under side.

When the hammer-` is thrown back bythe guard-lever, as before described, the stud-pin t ou it is caught by the trigger, as shown in Fig.` 3, r

The stud or projection on the retractor in front of the notch f is rounded, so as to cause the reti-actor to spring down and escape past the flange of the cartridge when the lever S is pulled back, in case a vcartridge may fail of being discharged, and be forced back into the barrel with its llange in advance of the projection, which may occur when the last cartridge is fired, on account of there being none in the magazine to force it out of the carrier, and which might injure, or perhaps break, the retractor; but this will not happen if the muzzle ofthe gun is held down so that the j lcartridge will fall out of the carrier by its own weight. It is only in case this may bey forgotten or neglected that the shell can thus get back into the barrel, and even then the llange will not be in advance of the notchV only in case the shell happens to move forward in the carrier =before it is raised upto the barrel.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Pat ent- I 1. The spring-stud m, pivoted to the side of the carrier G, and having a point, n, projecting through a slot in the same, as shown a-nd described, whereby it is adapted to swing with the carrier and exerta yielding pressure on the incoming cartridge, tending to arrest it against the action of the spring in the magazine, as specified. I

2. The carrier G, arranged to swing on an arm, g, between the barrel and the maga-zine, and provided with a spring, h, for throwing it back, substantially as specitied.

3. The combination of the guard-lever S, link V, and notched slide P with the pivoted carrier G, substantially as specihed, whereby the cartridge may be withdrawn and the carrier swung down, as described.

4. The arrangement of a sliding retractor,

P, provided with notches e j, with a pivoted carrier, G, whereby the flange ofthe cartridge is caused to drop into the notche ofthe retractor as the cartridge is carried to the barrel by the carrier, and the flange of the shell is caused to escape from the said notch as the shell is carried downto the discharging-tube, substantially as specified.

5. The retractor provided with the notch q and the carrier with the stud 4', in such manner as to retain the retractor during a portion extremity of the inner or shorter arm of the of the Areturn movement of the carrier,-snb lever may be brought nearer the retriactor stantially as specified. before the movement of the latter is com- 6. The combination of the breech plate L, menced, and the rear or notched end of the lever R provided with notch a, stud-pin Z, retraetor be thrown down to swing the carand guard-lever for actuating said plate, subrier, as specied.

stautially as specied. GEORGE D. LUCE.

7. The combina-tion of retractor P, slotted Witnesses: l link V, and guard-lever S, pivoted and ar- A. PAILLET,

ranged as shown and described, WherebT the EUGENE THORNHILL. 

